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I recently bought a cheap speedlight flash. I've set it to manual mode and when i am using it in a dark place it dosent trigger and sometimes it does. Am i doing something wrong?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Can you tell us the model of flash, and how you're triggering it? \$\endgroup\$
    – inkista
    Commented Feb 11, 2015 at 5:47
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    \$\begingroup\$ We could use the camera model and settings as well, please. \$\endgroup\$
    – JenSCDC
    Commented Feb 11, 2015 at 7:35

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The fact that the place is dark should not matter, although it could just help if the flash is controlling an optical slave.

Here are some reasons an external flash can randomly missfire:

Hotshoe bug (external flash on camera)

Check the connection between the camera body and the external flash, screw it tighter. Shoot a photo; if is still doesn't flash, find the test button of your external flash (read the manual), and push it. If it works with the test button, but not when taking a photo, then it's probably a connection problem.

Shooting while reloading

If missfiring happens when shooting a lot of photos in a row, it might simply be that the external flash is not ready yet. There should be a signal for flash readiness (sound, LED, or etc.). Have a look at the manual.

If the flash is an optical slave

If your on-camera flash is used to trigger an external flash remotely, put the camera just in front of the external flash's light sensor and take a test photo. If it works, maybe adjust the power of the internal flash of your camera, or the orientation of the external flash.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Yeah, i just replaced it whith "external flash" everywhere. Thanks for the grammar edits also, i haven't had enough coffee yet to write correctly (also, I happen to be French) \$\endgroup\$
    – Renan Le Caro
    Commented Feb 11, 2015 at 12:02

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